DR: Like the first stroy in this series, this one is gonig to start slow. But I have included more detailed battles. And all you Jamie/Pierce fans, don't worry, they will get together (after a bumpy road...)
Chapter 2: Early Morning Thoughts & Motion
Several hundred miles away, Vega was the only member of the Blitz team up. Dawn had not yet reached the Blitz base, and the night sky was free from any glow of city lights. Not even Romeo City, forty miles away, marred the view he had of the stars.
Vega Obscura leaned forwards slightly, and set his eye against the eyepiece of the telescope he had received from the infamous Raven, his ancestor. He unconsciously stroked the slightly raised marking that Raven had added to the telescopes casing, an exact copy of the marking on his cheek. The telescope had belonged to Raven long ago, but he had passed it on to Vega, as a mark of respect.
Vega suspected that his mother Sarah would have been less that thrilled to hear that he had been getting up in the early hours to stare up at the night sky, but he had wanted to see what was out there. Besides since they had left the Backdraft she had loosed up around him, giving him more personal freedom. He had been the one who pushed her towards Leon, citing that it was long past time for her to seek her own happiness.
Vega sat back again, thinking about them. He couldn't help but grin as he remembered the first time he and Sarah had come here, almost four months ago. The Blitz had been in Class S barely a month, and were struggling to achieve any kind of success. Bit had hit upon the idea of expanding the team, and so they had first recruited the Fluegel team, consisting of Naomi Fluegel and Leon Toros. It was quite fortunate that they did, since it turned out later that Naomi was pregnant with Brad Hunter's child. A fortuitous accident resulting from a night of passion just before the start of the season, when she had joined the Blitz for a pre-season ball.
Shortly after Bit had run into his mother, along with Pierce and Stroller, both superior ex-Backdraft pilots. Bit had laid out for them the offer of joining the Blitz and gaining a free promotion to Class S. To say that Pierce and Stroller had been stunned was an understatement.
For his part, Vega had been thrilled at the idea. Bit had been his only real opponent before the Royal Cup, and Vega was drawn to battles in search of worthy foes. The idea of going up against the Class S warriors who were delivering to the Blitz an awful pounding was something that Vega could never have given up!
Sarah had warned him that he should know whom he would be living and working with before he decided, so he had suggested that they visit. That simple decision had spawned a whole series of wonderful discoveries, including Naomi's pregnancy, and more importantly, Leon. Vega had sensed almost right away that there was something between his mother and Leon. That night on their way home Sarah had barely been concentrating on what she was doing.
Vega had always felt sorry that his mother never seemed to be happy. She tried for his sake, and revelled in the triumphs he attained, but she never smiled for herself. Even before they had officially joined, Vega had been determined to find a way for Sarah to find happiness.
Luckily for him Leon had also felt the same way about Sarah that she felt about him. It didn't take long for the two of them to come together, despite the circumstances. Vega shivered as he recalled that horrific attack that had preceded their admission of their feelings for each other. His precious Fury had almost died… if it hadn't been for Christian, and his relationship to Derek Calisto who had come to see how they were, the Fury would have been lost.
And now his mother was truly happy, married to Leon. Vega grinned as he considered the situation he was in. While her name changed from Sarah Obscura to Sarah Toros, his remained the same. He doubted that he would ever feel comfortable calling Leon 'Father', but he was certainly part of the Blitz family. The whole team in fact felt like one big family. Even Stroller was a part of it, despite his efforts to remain on the edge. With the three weddings that had taken place just last week, that family was even more tightly bounded together.
Vega leaned forward once more, twisting the dials ever so slightly. Before his eye saw one of Zi's fellow planets, a wondrous gas giant. Swirling bands of blue in a range of shades and hues circled the world, and his sharp eyes picked the faint signs of a silvery ring around the equator.
'That one I'll call Sarah, after you mom.' The colours reminded him of Sarah's wardrobe and her hair, while the ring around the world called to mind the ring that Leon had given her. He knew that the planet most likely already had a name, but to Vega it would always be 'Sarah'. He allowed himself to wonder what it would be like to see that world up close…
'If I ever get the chance, I'll go there some day. And Fury will be right there with me.'
x x x x x x
Within the Blitz Base, Jamie slowly blinked his way awake. Glancing at the digital clock by his bed, he saw that he still had a few minutes before his alarm was due to go off. He laid back and stared up at the ceiling.
A wry smile crossed his young face as he allowed his thoughts to roam. The Blitz had gone through an amazing amount of upheaval in such a short space of time; it was stunning that everyone had come through unscathed. Mostly. Leena's horrific injuries were a potent reminder of how close death had been to them.
Jamie's worried wince faded into a grin as he considered Leena. 'Who would have thought she would end up married to Bit?' Jamie had been there when the two of them had first met, and it had not been pretty. Bit had been sneaking into the Blitz hanger, intent on nicking some zoid parts as compensation for helping Leon earlier that day. But Doc had planed for unwelcome guests, and he had been caught.
But then fate had intervened. The Liger Zero had been sitting in the Blitz hanger for several years, ever since Steve had been conned into buying it. But the zoid proved to be unusable, forcibly removing anyone from its cockpit. No one could pilot it, so it had stood there, gathering dust. But something in Bit had sparked the Ligers interest, and the Liger had invited Bit in.
After that day, the two of them became an unbreakable team, bringing fame and glory to the Blitz, which up till that point had been languishing in the gutter of zoid battle teams. The team had taken all comers, and had nearly always won. In fact, if you didn't include their time in class S, Jamie could count the number of lost battles on one hand. Not even the cheating Backdraft had been capable of beating them.
The thought of the Backdraft caused Jamie's thoughts to turn towards the four members of the Blitz who had worked for the Backdraft. Stigma Stroller, Vega and Sarah Obscura, and most importantly for him, Pierce. Those three pilots had been the Backdrafts best, and that talent shone through. Sarah was not a pilot, but Jamie was indebted to her for taking over the masses of paperwork that he had been forced to do before. Steve, his daughter Leena and Bit were almost incapable of dealing with the daily mundane stuff of running the team, while Brad had only been concerned with getting his paycheck.
However, it was the flyer Pierce that Jamie's thoughts were focused on. The older, taller woman was at once his best friend and an enigma. Whole sections of her past where still shrouded in mystery and Pierce was always uncomfortable talking about her past. She still felt the burning shame of her stepfather, which was why she had dropped her surname. Now she couldn't even recall it.
But the mysteries that surrounded her did not affect Jamie's love for her. Pierce was, in essence, a halfway house between the tall, slender and elegant Sarah and the shorter, voluptuous Leena. Pierce was tall and slender, but not as naturally slim or quite as tall as Sarah. And while Leena won out in feminine curves, Jamie preferred the slightly less obvious features of the long teal haired pilot. Pierce moved with a feline grace that Naomi had before the season, which when combined with her almost regal features made her very desirable. Unlike the others, Pierce generally stayed in her one-piece flight suit, which suited her very well in Jamie's opinion. She also had an honest soul, and could laugh along with anyone else in the team. Quick witted and highly skilled, she was an ideal zoid pilot.
Despite the age gap between them both, they both felt a deep, lasting love for the other. Both had saved the other's life, and they had flown together both in their own zoids and in hers together. When it looked like they were going to die during that 'End of the World' fight as Christian had called it, they had both spoken those three little words that meant so much to both of them. They had both known how the other felt beforehand, but that was the first time they had actually come out and said it.
Afterwards, flushed with the realisation that they had both survived, they had slept in each other's arms. They had not fully submitted to passion though, since they were still taking it easy. And at the time, they were both exhausted, not to mention that Jamie was feeling a little lost with out his Raynos, which had been completely destroyed in that fight.
Luckily Christian had known a few people, and the Raynos was back, as good as ever. The only marked change was the black sections of its hide beneath the green armour were now bronze, a marker left by the bronze organoid that had brought the charred, twist ruin back to life.
Since then, they had returned to sleeping in their own beds, despite some pretty strong urges. Brad and Naomi had plunged right into sleeping together, and look how that turned out! Although their child was a cause to celebrate, it also would put Naomi out of competition for several months. Jamie did not want to force that on Pierce, so they had held back, for now.
Glancing at the clock again, Jamie sighed as he pulled himself upright. The Zoid Battle Commission had called a halt to all zoid battling until the crisis had been dealt with. After that final battle, the season had restarted again for Class A and below. The other Class S teams had wanted to wait a while, to allow the Blitz a little time to enjoy themselves. Everyone held the Blitz up as the heroes of that climatic battle, and as most of the other teams' leaders and members were themselves married, they understood all too well the needs of the Blitz's newly wedded couples.
But it was getting on for a fortnight since the weddings, and the competition had to be restarted soon. Christian had promised that he would bring them back from their honeymoon in time for the new season.
Jamie made his way down the corridor as quietly as he could. He didn't want to wake anyone at this time. He paused before the door to Pierce's room, before slowly opening it to peer inside. Pierce had chosen one of the slightly smaller rooms near the bend in the horseshoe shaped base. Due to the location, her room was shaped like a slice from a very large cake, with both sidewalls coming together as they ran from the outer curved wall to the door. The en-suite bathroom was just to Jamie's left, and just ahead the light of both moons lit up Pierce's bed.
Jamie's breath caught in his throat as he gazed over her sleeping form. Just like him, she had been drained from that battle, and since then she had been sleeping long into each day. The pale moonlight ran across every curve of her face, and turned her teal hair that was splayed around her head almost silvery. She lay slightly twisted onto her side, causing the sheet to swoop up and down in a range of tantalising curves. One slim arm was resting above the sheet, and was laid out across the bed. A slight smile was on her face and her breathing was deep and regular.
Jamie lost track of time as he took in everything before him. She seemed almost angelic there, restful and so desirably female. 'God she is beautiful…' He sighed gently, wishing that he could lock that moment away forever. But he knew that things needed doing.
At his sigh, the rounded hump that rested on the end of her bed shifted, and two soft blue eyes turned to regard him. Shaking his head, Jamie stepped forwards as the furry bundle stood up.
"Hello little one…" He whispered to the liger kitten, a wedding gift to the whole team from Samantha. Only a few months old, it was growing fast, and had already become part of the Blitz. The two Ligers in the hanger seemed constantly amused at the tiny thing, despite the radical differences between them and it. Jamie could clearly recall the time he found the kitten curled up on the Liger Zeros nose, sleeping soundly. The kitten appeared to have no fear of any zoid, even the fearsome visage of the Fury or the dominating bulk of the Iguanosaur.
The kitten looked up at him with those big gentle blue eyes, and made a soft cry. Smiling, Jamie gently picked it up before cradling it against his chest. Pierce had practically taken over the care for the small creature, which was why it slept in her room for now. The whole team knew that they would have to do something about getting the liger it's own space, since when it reached maturity it would dwarf any of them and out mass any two of them combined.
"Hush…" He whispered again as he stroked the soft tawny head. "We don't want to wake her." The kitten purred as he slowly backed out of the room, closing the door almost silently.
Still carrying the massive kitten, he made his way down to the main living area. Stepping into the kitchen, he gently set the kitten down on one of the stools. "Now you wait there, and I'll get you something." He told the liger before he stepped towards the walk-in freezer that was built into the rear of the kitchen. He shook his head gently as he opened the thick door. Despite living here now for almost three months, certain aspects of the new base were still a little hard to get used to.
Following Samantha's advice, he quickly filled a shallow bowl with small cuts of meat. 'For the first few months, little and often is the best. After about six months you can start to switch towards fewer, larger meals. Add some milk to the meat for the first few months too.' Jamie slowly added the milk to the bowl, the white liquid turning pink as some of the blood still trapped in the meat seeped out. The liger was watching him as he set the bowl above the hob and turned the heat onto low. Not enough to cook the meat, but enough to raise the temperature up to just above body temperature.
While the kittens' breakfast slowly warmed up, Jamie set to work on his own. He filled the coffee machine to the brim with water before setting it going. While the resident two coffee lovers were currently on their honeymoon, the others here were quite keen on their morning cup. After he set the toaster going for his breakfast, he tested the temperature of the almost evil looking brew on the hob. He smiled as he dipped his finger in. Just right.
Switching the heat off, he gently lifted the bowl off the hob and set it down on the worktop. "As it's just me, you can get up here today." He told the kitten, patting the worktop as he did so. The liger quickly jumped up with all the energy of hungry youth, before making a beeline for the bowl. Pierce tended to make it eat from the floor, since while it might be okay for the kitten to fit on the worktop at the moment, when she got bigger, if she jumped up everything else would be knocked clear off. But Jamie had a soft spot for her, and he just knew that having to eat off the floor while there were so few of them around did not help the kitten bond with them.
Despite the look of the contents, the liger wasted no time in attacking the food before it, wolfing down the small cuts and lapping up the milk. The Blitz had ensured that while it was small, there were plenty of thin, small chunks for the kitten to eat. It would be a while before its jaws and teeth were developed enough for it to handle larger chunks. Jamie was amazed however that despite the kitten's obvious hunger, it was still very neat about eating. Not a drop had been splashed onto the worktop.
As he buttered his toast, he quickly checked the latest mail from the small terminal built into the wall at the end of the worktop. To allow the team to check their mail or call up data from the computer core beneath them without having to go to the main terminal, a number of secondary terminals had been scattered throughout the base. Some like those in their rooms were almost as powerful as the main one, while others like this one were read only. 'Those guys certainly knew how to put this place together…'
Working quickly and efficiently, he pulled up the day's mail. Surprisingly the amount of junk mail was much lower than normal. Jamie supposed that since the trio of marriages within the Blitz, all those hopeless fans were still in a state of shock. Certainly there had always been dozens of marriage proposals for both Bit and Leena, all from people who had never met the pair and would never have interested either of them.
Aside from the usual death threats against the team as a whole – and Bit in particular – from the few remaining Backdraft groups, there were a few messages that were more official. First off there was one from Derek Calisto. Jamie smiled as he recalled the first time he had met the softly spoken leader of the Raider's team. He had been their first opponent in Class S, and he had passed on a lot of sage advice. Ever since, the Blitz and the Raiders had become both good friends off the field, and the greatest rivals on it.
But it was his connections that had truly indebted him to the Blitz. He was the most direct male descendant of Christian Masters, a man who had a heck of a lot of knowledge and wisdom. Thanks to his intervention, both the Fury and Leena had been saved from certain death. And he was the one responsible for the latest wonder of the zoid world, the Iguanosaur.
Jamie couldn't help but smile in wonder as he thought about that massive zoid. Created from the ruin husks of both of Leena's old zoids, the Iguanosaur was one of the largest zoids around, massing as much as a Gojulas. Jamie would never understand how Christian had merged her old Dibison and the Gunsniper together, but the result was plain to see. Unlike the Gojulas, the Iguanosaur was a four-legged beast, based on an Iguanodon dinosaur. It carried extensive weaponry, and was very rugged. Christian had admitted that he had been as surprised as everyone else when he saw the scale of the new zoid. He had known the final form, but he had envisaged something a little… smaller.
Even more astonishing, the new zoid was also an Ultimate X, just like the Liger Zero and the Fury. The softly spoken and gentle zoid – according to Vega – had been able to help heal the old mental wounds that Leena had carried around since her mothers passing. Getting the new zoid into the hanger had worried Jamie at first, but the Iguanosaur had stepped in with ease. Since it was long but low, the zoid had ended up standing length wise in two of the bays. Currently one of the two spare bays was filled with the ancillary mounts of the Blitz: Naomi's and Sarah's Gustavs, Bit's salvage truck, Pierce's bike, and the four jeeps that now belonged to the team. The Hover Cargo stood as it always had done outside the building. There had been a half-hearted discussion about having the hanger extended a bit more, to allow for additional visiting zoids to have a place to rest in. But so far nothing had come of it.
A message from Doctor Layon was next, saying that he would be willing to help out with the remaining development of the add-ons for the Shadow Fox he had designed. He had given the blueprints to Brad as a wedding gift, at last able to view Brad's theft of the Fox without rancour. He had admitted that he had never expected the Fox to prove so vital in the events of the last few weeks. He only asked that he be allowed to study all their zoids as well, including the Iguanosaur. Jamie could just see the egg-headed zoid scientist drooling at the thought of getting a closer look at the titan. Steve had already planed to ask Layon to help anyway, since with most of their zoids being one-of-a-kind types, getting parts was going to be a nightmare.
The final letter was from the ZBC. It congratulated the team for not only their conduct in the face of terrible danger, but also the recent marriages. But it also showed when the season would be restarted, and included the teams first match. It was most apologetically written, saying how that while they wished to give the newly weds more time off, the demands of the season made that impossible.
Jamie sighed as the kitten walked over, the bowl licked clean. Gently stroking its head he stood up to clean up the bowl and his plate. Once done, he planed to compose a letter to Christian, informing him about the scheduled match. He had let them have his email address so that they could contact him again when needed. Now was that time.
DR: Well that's all for now. Next time we meet up again with Brad and Naomi Hunter, and a certain dragon zoid puts in a short appearance... Till then!